Monday, September 16, 2013

Bearing the Burden

Raphael practices with his sai, willfully embracing the
upcoming challenge. Though many of the
Shredder’s goons have fallen before his weapons, they cannot help him in what
is to come; he must overcome the challenge alone. Luckily, that’s just the way Raphael likes
it.

Leonardo inspects his swords, pensively awaiting what
comes next. He understands steel and the
skill to use it, having bested high-tech aliens with his simple blades. However, his weapon will be useless in this
next encounter and he stoically accepts this reality.

Donatello meditates with his bo staff. In the past, its range has been like a shield
to him, deflecting many attacks… even protecting him from dinosaurs. However, his staff won’t be able to save him
from what’s about to happen. In fact, no
one can save him.

Michelangelo wields his nunchakus, thinking about how his
graceful form always ends in brutish results: clobbering his enemies. He would rather avoid hurting others and
shirk the responsibility of being a warrior, but he knows he has no
choice. He must walk into the impending
danger willingly and without protection... though he'd much rather fight Savanti Romero again than deal with what lies ahead.

Down in the sewer lair, the Turtles begrudgingly gather in
Splinter’s “clinic”, whining that they don’t want to get their shots. Splinter warns them that shell fungus could
prove fatal if they aren’t inoculated.
Filling his syringe, he tells them to “bear the burden” and bend over.

McCollum and Anderson: Two of Mirage’s guest creators who
understood the Turtles so well, they provide one of the most introspective
character breakdowns in what is essentially a comedy relief short.

The primary theme in most McCollum/Anderson stories is
the Turtles and how they relate to both the world of Nature and the world of
Man, as they walk the line between the two.
Most of these were pretty dramatic fare, like “Twilight of the Ring”. So with that in mind, “Bearing the Burden” is
a rather effective fake-out, as it opens with some pretty melodramatic prose
and ends on a silly gag.

The theme of Man vs. Nature is still in there, as
Splinter tells them at the end that if they wish to live like Men, then they
must “bear the burden”, but the inclusion is almost satirical. It reads like McCollum and Anderson poking
fun at their own overdone messages and character dissections.

Those aforementioned character dissections that encompass
the first 4 pages of this 5-page short are apt and concise, regardless of how
the story ends. They nicely relate how
the Turtles feel about their chosen weapon, deftly explaining how their
personalities influenced their choice of gear.
It’s surprisingly loaded for just four pages, but not necessarily
overwritten, either. The sequence is
really rather impressive and doesn’t feel like it’s reaching too hard to find
connections between the Turtles and their tools.

I was especially fond of how they viewed Mikey and his
nunchakus. Mikey is a jokester who likes
to show off, but when push comes to shove, he has to mean business. The ‘chakus, in that regard, are flashy and
dynamic to look at… but in the end, you’re just clubbing people over the head
with them. More than that, the text
mentions how Mikey would really rather not fight at all, but reluctantly walks
the path of a warrior. Again, they relate
this attitude back to the nunchakus, as the whirling and twirling can be enough
to intimidate a foe and avoid conflict, but can be deadly if the challenge is
pressed.

Again, for what sounds like a throwaway gag comic on the
surface, this shit’s pretty deep!

And of course there’s McCollum’s art and Anderson’s inks
to tie the whole thing up. Their art always has
an aura of class to it that I find really attractive. Just look at Mikey’s page, as he stands above
the steam grate, posing with his nunchakus.
Great stuff. Mary Woodring’s colors
are a nice fit, too. I find her coloring
efforts here more appropriate than those of Peter Laird (who colored the
McCollum/Anderson short “Snapper”), as she forgoes the distracting photoshop
effects. Incidentally, Jim Woodring
colored the McCollum/Anderson short “The Ring”.
I’m assuming the two Woodrings were related in some way? They both handled McCollum/Anderson’s work
well, whatever the case.

Grade: A (as in, “Although I wonder where Splinter got
those needles? I mean, he IS in a New
York City sewer, after all. They’re
probably rather plentiful, down there…”)